What is common in the stories of the residents in various coastal sitios of Bulacan is that the “news” about their impending displacement is coming to them in trickles of information packaged in a threat.

While the government is riding on the popular call for cleanup of Manila Bay, harnessing free labor of volunteers for fishing out thrash in Manila Bay, it is, on the other hand, disproportionately blaming the poor and seeking their demolition in favor of reclamation plans and other real estate development.

Its impact is long-term – once tons upon tons of soil are dumped into the sea, the loss of marine life and ecological balance cannot be immediately replaced – and the resultant flooding through water level rise cannot be immediately addressed.

A product of its time

Bulatlat.com was a product of the times. It was born right after the ouster of the Estrada administration in 2001 by a politicized and empowered citizenry who were tired of the blatant corruption by those who claimed to work for the interests of the Filipino people. Learn more »